One Week
by MerryH
Summary: Misty has just left and Ash is devastated. How will the two be able to cope without each other? Angst and AAML


Hey, I hope you like my fanfic.

Basically, Misty has just left, a little bit out of the blue, and Ash is devastated.

Misty is back at Cereulean Gym, and yes, Pallet Town is very close by, but for the purpose of this story it's a LOT further away. I've kind of bumped up their ages a bit too, so they're about fifteen/sixteen years old in this story.

AGES:

Ash: 15

Misty: 16

Brock: 19

I hope you enjoy it!

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Ash sat in the park, his hair tickling his forehead. He paid it no attention as the wind swept it across his face, the rain trickling off his cap. What did it matter? He stared at the ground, his eyes never leaving that simple spot of dirt. His eyes began to water, but whether this was caused by the simple unblinking stare, or from how he felt, he didn't know. His tears slowly began to blend in with the rain and he didn't bother to wipe them away. The nearby swings creaked, rusting slowly, slowly becoming obsolete.

"Ash?" A hand touched his shoulder. He jumped in shock, and quickly wiped away his tears. Could it be…?

It wasn't.

"Are you okay, Ash?" Brock asked, fixing him with a worried stare. Pikachu was by Brocks side, looking sad.

"I- I'm fine. Just leave me alone." Ash said, turning back to face the ground.

"Does this have anything to do with Mi-" Brock said, getting cut off by Ash, who yelled,

"Just leave me alone, okay!?"

Brock sighed heavily and Ash listened for his footsteps crunching down the pathway.

It had been one week since she had left. One entire week without the sound of her voice, one entire week without the smell of her freshly-washed hair, one entire week without hearing her laugh, one entire week without her warm hand in his, when he would take any opportunity to hold it. One week.

He was slowly going insane in his own mind.

Why hadn't she called? Didn't she care? He missed her so much, and she didn't even throw a postcard in his direction. There she was, just back at the Gym.

Ashs' eyes went misty again, and he put his head in his hands.

Meanwhile, Brock was sitting nearby in a café with Pikachu, sipping a latte.

_This isn't like Ash._ He thought. _Ash doesn't sit around and distance himself from everyone. This is all to do with Misty. If only…_ Brock sighed. How could he fix this?

Brock sat there for a moment, just thinking, when it came to him.

He jumped up, nearly knocking the latte onto the ground, threw some cash on the table, and ran to his car, leaping in, Pikachu following suit.

As he drove, he wondered if he was doing the right thing. But he then realised that he didn't care if it was right - he had to do this – for Ash. He had to put Ash out of his misery.

He sped along the streets, swerving from lane to lane, between cars, until finally; he pulled up at Cereulean city Gym. He slammed the door shut to his car, and didn't bother grabbing the umbrella on the seat, he just ran to the doors of the huge building, the Seal on top looking like he was beckoning him inside.

"Stay here Pikachu…" He yelled behind himself.

He burst through the doors.

There was nobody there. He glanced around in confusement, until stepping inside and letting the doors slam shut behind him. Where was Misty?

He walked around the edge of the gigantic pool where Misty and Ash had battled a long time ago – it seemed like yesterday. He saw the office with a light on underneath, and gave a slight knock.

"Misty?" He questioned, grabbing the handle gently and giving it a twist.

It stuck. The door was locked.

"Misty? Are you in there?" He asked, pushing the door slightly.

Nothing.

He turned away from the door until he heard a slight sob.

Turning back, he tried one more time.

"Misty, open the door."

He heard a noise and the doorknob jiggled. The door opened slightly, the chain catching it halfway.

Mistys eyes were red, puffy and swollen. It looked like she had been crying for days, weeks, hell, maybe years. Brock looked at her with sadness. His friends were in such agony and they didn't even know how much the other cared. It killed him to see them like this.

"Oh Misty…" Brock said, his voice filled with sadness and pity.

Misty unlatched the chain and pushed the door open. She never once looked Brock in the eyes.

Brock grabbed her arms and pulled her forwards into a hug. She sobbed into his vest, leaving a gigantic wet patch. He hugged her tight, and she cried. She must have cried for at least fifteen minutes, nonstop, until Brock said,

"He misses you."

She looked up at Brock and stopped weeping.

"More than you could ever know."

She began to cry again and he led her over to a bench. He sat her down and said, "Why are you so upset?"

She took a deep breath and said, "Because for one whole week, I haven't been with the person I love. I thought I could handle it, but I can't. I haven't come out of that fucking office in that entire week. I haven't taken, or made any phone calls, or had one battle. Everything, everything I used to love and enjoy – nothing has colour anymore. Everything is monochrome and Ash is technicolour."

Brock shook his head, unsure of what to say.

"Why are you here?" Misty finally asked after about three minutes of silence.

"I came because of Ash."

"Ash?"

"He's…unconsolable. You can't talk to him, you can't be near him – he won't listen or talk to anyone. It's horrible."

"W-Why?"

"Misty, are you blind? He's completely in love with you."

"Don't bait me."

"Fine, don't believe it, but he is. He is _dead_ inside Misty. God, he's not even _Ash_ anymore. He just sits in the park, crying all day, then comes home, goes to his room, and locks the door."

Misty was silent.

"You need to come back."

"I want to come back."

"Good, then come on, my cars outside."

"Brock – I can't."

"Why the hell not?"

"I have a responsibility to this Gym, to my sisters."

"Oh Misty, to hell with responsibility, as if you can run this Gym when you're this upset!"

"I have to try."

"Misty, he needs you."

"He doesn't need me like I need him."

"Misty – just, please, please, go and talk to him."

Misty was silent still.

"Misty, please, if not for me, for Ash. Give him his life back."

Misty stared at her shoelaces, until finally, after what felt like a lifetime, giving a slow, sombre nod.

Brock stood up and took a step away, turning around to face her.

"Come on." He said gently, helping her up from the bench.

They made their way out to the car, and Brock sped off back towards the park where Ash was.

-------------------------------------An hour later---------------------------------------

"Ash?" another voice asked from behind him.

Ash didn't bother to look up this time. It wasn't her. It was his mind, playing with him, toying with him – again. Misty was so nervous. Brock and Pikachu had agreed to stay in the car as she didn't exactly want them to witness her, what was sure to be well, not finest hour.

"Ash, I- I want to -…Ash, please say something." Misty whispered that last part, a single tear dropping from her eye.

Ash stood and turned to face her, to see if she really _was_ a mirage.

"M-Misty?" Ash managed to choke out.

Misty walked slowly around the bench seperating them, and stood right in front of Ash. She began to cry and Ash pulled her to him, and they embraced. Ash held on more tightly than he had ever held onto anything before. He gripped her as if she was his last hope – which, really, she was.

"Ash, I'm so sorry." She whispered into his ear, the electricity from her lips grazing his ear sending a shiver up his spine.

"Why?"

She closed her eyes, the tears squeezing out onto his shoulder.

"I don't know. I'm sorry I left."

Ashs hand found hers and they entwined together, gripping tightly.

"You had to go. But… why did you come back? Why didn't you call, or – or, I don't know, write or something?" He asked, finally releasing from the embrace.

"I haven't really… called or done anything in the past week. I've just kind of been in the office for a week." She said, slightly ashamed.

"Wh- what do you mean?"

"I've kind of been… crying."

"Crying? Why?"

"Because of … well… you."

Ash was completely taken aback.

"Me? How did I… Did I do something to hurt you?"

Misty groaned.

"Oh god, Ash, why don't you get it?"

Ash looked at her puzzled. Misty let go of his hand and stepped backwards.

"That day when you turned up and stole my bike was the best day of my life. I – I don't know what I did before you were in my life; it's all just a haze of grey. Don't you realise how many times I wanted to kiss you? How many times I wanted to have you hold me and never let go? I love you Ash. I always have, always will."

Ash blinked at her in complete shock.

"N-n-now that I've told you, I'm going to get out of your life and you'll never have to endure any other crazy things from me, ever again." She turned to walk away, until a hand grabbed her arm, and whipped her round.

Ash whipped her round to face him, pulled her as close as possible, stared straight into her eyes and kissed her.

Misty melted into his arms. This is what she had wanted for so long, waited for for so very long; however, she had never expected this. His lips were soft and sweet and she felt electrified – like a Magneton had come along and decided to give his strongest attack.

Every single nerve in her body had a current shot through it.

Every single strand of hair on her body stood on end.

That "fireworks" thing that people describe when they kiss? Misty had a whole freaking carnival in her opinion.

Ash was kissing her.

Ash Ketchum, kissing Misty Waterflower.

She completely floated away, leaving the planet to achieve complete, blissful nirvana. What felt like seconds, but was actually about ten minutes later, they broke apart.

Misty held his hands tightly and took a deep breath.

"I love you." Ash said, lifting up Mistys chin to make her stare right into his eyes.

"More than anything in the entire world." He said, finally smiling. His cheeks hurt – they hadn't smiled in so very long that it felt like a whole new emotion.

Misty smiled right back at him and leapt into his arms. He caught her and they kissed again – however there were a lot of teeth involved as it was hard for them to kiss and smile so broadly at the same time!

When they finally broke apart, Ash closed his eyes and took a moment to relish in what had happened.

"Ash? Are you …alive?" Misty asked with a laugh.

"More alive then I've been in a long time." Ash replied, opening his eyes and smiling at her.

He pulled Misty close again, so that their foreheads were touching as he stared into her eyes.

"Are you going to kiss me now? Ash Ketchum, you are _soooooooooo_ predictable." Misty said, giggling.

"I'll kiss you if you tell me where you keep your mallet." Ash said devilishly.

"No fair!" Misty said, in mock horror.

"You think that mallet of yours is fair?" Ash said, stepping back from her and folding his arms.

"Yeah!"

"Oh yeah?!"

"YEAH!"

"OH YEAH?!"

"YEAH!"

They turned away from each other and crossed their arms with a humph.

Brock and Pikachu were watching from the car.

"Pika, Pika-chaaa!"

Brock smiled.

"Looks like nothings changed." He said, smiling.

Ash whirled around and stared at Mistys back. She was still cross, but he reached out and grabbed her arm, whipping her round again and kissing her.

"Well, except for that." Brock said, laughing.

"Pika-Pi!" Pikachu shook his head.


End file.
